A Montgomery County man pleaded guilty to assaulting two officers during an hours-long standoff at his home
At the time of the standoff last year, Willie Singletary, 30, was wanted in connection with a murder in Philadelphia, investigators said.
The younger brother of former Philadelphia Traffic Court Judge Willie Singletary, who bears the same name, was sentenced Monday to state prison for his role in a violent standoff last year at his home in Montgomery County.
Willie Singletary, 30, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault for pouring a cleaning solution into the eyes of two officers who came to his home in Plymouth Township looking for his younger brother in January 2021. The plea, negotiated with county prosecutors, came with a two-to-five year sentence in state prison, approved by Judge Thomas Del Ricci during a hearing in Norristown.
At the time of the standoff, Singletary was wanted in Philadelphia in connection with the 2019 murder of a man inside his Rhawnhurst home, according to investigators. And when the officers came to his door, authorities said, he feared that they had come to arrest him in that case.
He was taken into custody for his actions in the standoff and later charged in the murder.
» READ MORE: Two brothers, both named Willie Singletary, are arrested in separate crimes
His attorney, Michael John, said Monday that Singletary accepted responsibility for his actions during the standoff and wanted to resolve the matter.
Singletary also pleaded guilty Monday to a burglary he committed in an empty Lower Merion home in December 2019, and was sentenced in that crime to two-to-four years in prison, which will run concurrent with his sentence in the standoff.
Police officers visited Singletary’s home last year while serving a warrant for his younger brother, a third sibling bearing the name Willie Singletary, for what they said was the 21 year old’s role in a Christmas Day 2020 robbery at a convenience store.
When the officers arrived at the elder Singletary’s home, he attacked them and refused to leave the home, authorities said. He told them he was “ready to go to war,” and that they would have to kill him before he surrendered.
His older brother — the former Philadelphia judge — arrived at the scene hours later and successfully defused the situation.
The 30-year-old Singletary is awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges in the September 2019 murder of Jeffrey Sandine, according to court records. Singletary is scheduled to face a preliminary hearing in the case Aug. 3.
His younger brother, the suspect in the convenience store robbery, surrendered peacefully during the standoff and has a criminal proceeding pending on conspiracy to commit armed robbery and related offenses, according to court records.